I backed off a little this week, skipped the higher intensity workouts on Tuesday and Thursday and should be at 53 miles for the week instead of 60. I went to see Lisa to get some work done on my legs and foot and, well it was another painful session :-). Really, wasn’t too bad.

Nothing major came up but there were some areas with inflammation and knots. I think getting that work done should make things a lot better moving forward. On to the 22 miler tomorrow and hopefully a regular week or running next week.

Current Wins: Another lunch, foot feeling better, mental clarity

Current Losses: Down week of running, mental clarity

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During the Tuesday workout another runner and I were discussing what we like about this program. Leaving aside the craziness of the intensity of the training it really came down to the dynamics of the group. As time has gone on the “Team” in Team Rogue has taken on more meaning, for me for sure and I think for others. There’s no one thing about it but for me the experience has been different than other programs I’ve been in at Rogue and outside of Rogue.

The list of things that came up between us included:

The intensity of the workouts and the high mileage.

Everybody (mostly) all working towards the same marathon and traveling together.

The mix of people.

The attitude of people, dishing it out and poking fun and also being willing to be more supportive when somebody needs it.

Good people.

There are more reasons I’m sure but these are the ones I remembered from the discussion. Working towards the same marathon is one that I think has made a big difference. In previous performance projects we had quite a few different races people were gearing up to and also of different distances. In those cases as we got towards the end of the training seasons you’d have significant number of people dropping off since they were racing. That made the group kind of dwindle. In this case everybody going towards the same race and running together for such a long time has I think helped build a better sense of camaraderie.

As to the people, it really is an interesting group that is very varied. I don’t know if I would have met them if I wasn’t running, all of us can relate to that. I love the mid week runs starting from Barton Springs, if I get a side stitch these days it’s from laughing too hard so I can’t really complain.

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It seems like taking Monday off and backing off today was a good thing. I ran with the folks in the afternoon, not pushing as hard as I normally would and didn’t get any discomfort in my left foot. I’m still icing it and making sure I stretch my calfs etc but at least the pain isn’t constant and at this point seems controllable.

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If you’ve been reading my blog or are in Team Rogue you know about my foot sprain earlier during this training season. When we started our warm-up for the MGP run yesterday and today when I did my easy 5 mile loosen the legs up run I felt some soreness on the top of my foot, similar to the sensation when I had my foot sprain but not as bad. This of course has me a little worried about where things are with my foot so now I need to be careful about not straining it.

The plan for the week is to:

Take it easy on the Tuesday and Thursday runs if I’m feeling any discomfort.

Get in to see Lisa and get a massage.

Make sure I tie my laces correctly since that seems to have an impact.

Take lots of ibuprofen, stretch and ice.

Current Wins: Cheese bread, rock band jam session, lunch with a cute girl

Current Losses: Foot soreness,

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Today was a marathon goal pace run. I’ve been varying my effort between a 2:55 and 3:00 hour marathon finish. That’s an average pace of between 6:41 and 6:53. I’m definitely not in 2:55 shape and I know it, I’m probably closer to the 3:00 hour range but have been doing some workouts at 2:55 to try and condition my body but then run CIM to get the sub 3 hour marathon monkey off my back.

Our run today was a total of 23 miles with a 4 mile warm-up and a 4 mile cool down. The 15 miles in between were at marathon goal pace. Three 5 mile loops with a 2 to 3 minute break in between each loop, which really made the loops a little harder since the legs felt heavier after stopping. My goal today was to run the first set at a 3:00 based pace or 6:53, then at 6:47 and then around 6:45 or so. The actual sets of 5 went a little differently.

5 Miles Pace
34:43 6:57
33:56 6:47
33:21 6:40

I was off on the first 5 miles but don’t feel bad about it. I don’t run with a Garmin and the first few miles were marked a little short so I ended up thinking I was running too fast and backed off when I really shouldn’t have. I adjusted that for the next sets and knew the first few marked miles would be fast and it was the total time I needed to hit.

The worst part of the run had to be the cool down. After standing around for 10 minutes after finishing the third set my legs felt like lead weights. I managed to keep the side stitch at bay, didn’t ever even get to a point where I had to really adjust anything. I don’t think I’ve gotten rid of it completely so still need to get it checked out but it’s been somewhat at bay for the last couple of weeks which has made workouts much better.

Looking out 6 weeks to CIM it’s time to start visualizing the race for me. I’m thinking through a couple of race plan options. I want to break three hours and that’s the A goal. Now it’s down to the best way to do it. My current thought to break 3 hours is to run around a 6:50 pace (2:59:00 marathon) for the first 20 miles, then see how I feel and decide if I want to pick it up to a 6:45 ish pace gradually or not. If I were being more aggressive I’d go out to average a 6:47 pace or a 2:57:43 pace which is where I think my perfect race day would put me at my current fitness level. It’s funny how a minute here or there on the overall marathon is such a big deal, guess that’s what running at your limits does.

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Today was the second critical velocity workout we’ve done, the last one being earlier in the month on the 2nd. This week has been interesting since Sunday we raced a 10k, then it was 14 miles on Tuesday with Mike, Ken, Bruce and others, 10 on Wednesday and the 4x2k workout today. I’ve been surprised at how well the legs have held up. The 10 miles on Wednesday seemed like the most difficult run for the week.

The last time I did the 4x2k workout I didn’t run the 28 miler with the Team that weekend since I went out of town on vacation. This week we have a 23 mile run with 15 at marathon goal pace (MGP) so I’m looking forward to seeing how I do since this will be a nice stint of consistent mileage and effort. Over the last few weeks Steve has reminded us that it’s the combination of the workouts that together are trying to induce adaptations, it’s the tough workout on Thursday that tires our legs and the long Saturday run. For me it is good motivation to keep it going this season and also focus on the training after CIM to follow the example set by a lot of the other team members with their consistency and focus. It’s been very motivating to see Mike, Larry, Ken, Bruce, Damon, Jason …. the list goes on, throughout the program as well as all the people that have struggled through ups and down, just keep going and not giving up.

Today’s Run: 4x2k at 15k pace. On Target

Current Wins: Challenging work, cooler weather, Heroes is interesting again

Current Losses: Side stitch lingers, ditched current start up idea, less time with friends

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This is another one of those, trying to apply lessons from running to life posts. One of the hardest things while training seems to be coming to terms with where I am and what I’m capable of at that given time. Now this can go both ways, sometimes wanting too much and other times being too cautious and maybe not reaching my potential. In general thought I think most of us in Team Rogue have been very good this season about setting out goals, evaluating where we are, taking any bumps in the road in stride and making any adjustments.

When I started out this season I thought the best I could do would be to be in 2006 Boston marathon shape by next April. As we moved through the base phase and started on some faster pace work 3 hour marathon shape seemed reasonable by CIM, so I entered it. Now I’m working on some paces faster than that, but not pushing too hard since I don’t want to risk injury … really get in good shape and form good habits so I am in a position to push myself harder in my training after CIM for Boston. All very reasonable.

Now, for some reason I don’t seem to be able to apply this reasonableness to the rest of my life. Apart from running, there’s work, non-profit work, trying to work on a start-up on the side, and making time to enjoy life and time with friends. For some reason I have preconceived notions about what defines “success” in each of these areas, but my current definition means I’m doomed for failure. Just don’t have enough time or mental/emotional capacity to handle it all. Now begins the not so fun time for me to re-evaluate my “success” criteria for all these things and figure out what I will and won’t be making time for, unless somebody out there has a way of making time … what I really need is the power of Hiro Nakamura.

Today’s Run: 14 Miles

Current Wins: Understanding what I need to accomplish at work, chance of a trip to Switzerland in March,

Current Losses: Understand what I need to get done at work, tough trade-offs,